"Next target is to ensure all girls are vaccinated against cervical cancer": PM Modi to Bill Gates

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a free-wheeling chat with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, said that the NDA government, if voted to power yet again, will allocate money for research in cervical cancer.
The PM said that his new government will allocate funds to scientists for local research in cervical cancer as it wants to vaccinate all girls.
"In the coming days, I want to talk about cervical cancer, especially for our daughters. I want to give a budget to our scientists in India. And I want to tell them to do local research on this as well and make a vaccine. And with very little money, I want to vaccinate all the daughters in my country. I am working in that direction these days. When my new government is formed, it will allocate funds to scientists for local research in cervical cancer because we want to vaccinate all girls," Modi told Gates.
Recently global health donors had pledged USD 600 million towards eliminating cervical cancer . The World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF said that the funding would go towards expanding access to vaccination, screening and treatment worldwide.
Study's say, Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, and continues to disproportionately impact women and their families in low- and middle-income countries.
India reported over 14.13 lakh new cancer cases and 9.16 lakh deaths in 2022, according to the latest estimates released by the World Health Organisation's (WHO) cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The top five cancers among Indian women were found to be those of the breast, cervix, ovary, mouth and colorectum. The top five cancers among men were those of the oral cavity, lung, oesophagus, colorectum and stomach.
PM Modi and Bill Gates also spoke about the messaging during the Covid Pandemic as Gates queries the PM on how he managed the communication with the people during the pandemic.
"Firstly, I forced people to become educated about the virus that the fight against it is for everyone. This was my first philosophy that- this is not a virus versus government, but life versus virus. Secondly, I started communicating from day one, directly to the people of my country. I myself started following all the protocols publicly," the PM said.
PM Modi further highlighted how trust was built between the people and the government due to his efforts.
"I started taking everything publicly as an example in front of people. Then I told them to clang vessels, light the lamps. In our country, there was a great effort to make fun of it. But I had to take people into confidence that we had to fight this fight together. When this confidence was formed that we had to save our lives and the lives of others, a kind of mass movement was formed. In a democratic way, you can't work with a stick. You have to educate people, convince them, and take them along," the PM said.
Upon being asked by Gates about what are some technological advancements that he was excited about, Modi said that technology can play a big role in agriculture, health and education sectors.
Prime Minister Modi also highlighted his use of AI during the G20 summit for speech translation and delivering addresses in various languages at different events. He suggested leveraging technologies like ChatGPT for continuous self-improvement.
Addressing the topic of climate change, Modi emphasised the necessity for global recalibration away from metrics such as electricity or steel usage to gauge development, deeming them environmentally detrimental. He advocated for embracing concepts like green GDP and green employment instead.